Whoops!! I signed up for the Big Cheese Show with both Funny and Dan. Caroline was sweet and able to get my ride times far enough apart that I could do both. So, I signed Funny up for the Novice 3 day test.
(Disclaimer... we were the only ones in our class)
And just like with Dan... I learned the wrong darn test! Well, the correct test.. the wrong year. Sigh... Why can't they use "23-26 USEA NOVICE 3 Day Test" instead of "22 USEA NOVICE 3 Day Test".? Because it apparently is confusing to me. I don't know what year is the year they change it. Sigh. Of course I didn't know I was doing the wrong test until we were in it...
Back to the beginning though.. We got to the show and were clean and on time! We went to warm up and there was only one arena so we were able to ride in the other arena. Funny actually warmed up pretty nicely and she was definitley more chill than in the past. We didn't scare any children (or adults) and I didn't feel like I was going to get bucked off. She was her usual self in that she was a bit quick and very against my left leg. But she was also in heat again, so.. maybe that's part of it. And she probably needs an adjustment too. Or maybe it's just where we're at. Regardless, it was still an improvement.
It was our turn so we headed up and were feeling pretty good about things. We went down center line and tracked left. And Emily (the judge) rang the bell and was like "Holly.......". I was like "darn, really? I'm supposed to salute? I could have sworn that was only in Dan's tests"... So I apologized and started again. I saluted.. then tracked left and she rang the bell again and said "I don't think we're doing the same test". And it was just like deja vu... The USEA Novice 3 day test right? Yes.... 2026 right? Oh! Ooohhhhhhhh... I had learned 2022. Because when I looked at the weird secret code thing for the 3 day, it had last years info which was the 2022 test. Well dang... So Emily said she only had a score sheet for 2026, so... I could learn it real quick and let another rider go in my place and come back after and ride it. Or I could ride the 2022 test and she could score it on a scrap piece of paper... or ??? I laughed and said the whole point was to practice the test I was going to show at in November, so I'd learn it real quick. Besides, I hadn't really ridden this test through yet either. Doh! I'm so unprepared. To my credit though.. I had learned the test correctly... and I did tell Caroline 2022 novice test, but.. oh well. So I went out with the score sheet she had and learned the test as quick as I could. Sadly Funny had to just stand there. And then I basically got to walk back to the judges booth, hand her the score sheet, and then trot back to the front of the arena and start my test. Which, I DID memorize and ran without any errors. Go me. But, Funny had sat and gotten mad and was fussy. Well, fussier than she might have been. So it wasn't a great test. But it might not have been a great test anyways. The issues we had in it were not new issues or issues only because of our having to do it impromptu. Our stretchy trot wasn't great and there is that awful trot, then walk 4 steps, then trot again transition. And that sucked! We'll definitely have to work on that before November. But it was nice to get some feedback and be able to run through it. And the fact that we managed to pull it off with minimal prep and get a somewhat decent score is a win.
She got a nice rinse and then we headed home so I could make sure I had time to bathe Dan and get back with him in time. Good pony!
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